I’ve never been a big fan of D-Link’s cylinder router device because it makes it hard to wall mount and external antennas perform better, so it has been good to see them shift away from that recently. I was surprised to see their stylish new line up of high-end 802.11AC routers including a three radio AC3200 available now, and two Wave2 MU-MIMO enabled (AC5300 & AC3100) coming later this year. Of particular interest was that the Wave2 routers are based on Broadcom’s chips (all the existing kit uses Quantenna) so it will be interesting to see how they stack up, both from a performance and power consumption standpoint. D-Link also had a cute little AC1900 USB Wi-Fi adapter, one of the first I’ve seen, and some new Powerline AV2 2000 Gb adapters on display.

Dish Networks always puts on a good show at CES, and this year was no exception. There were dancing kangaroos, the CEO came in playing a drum, and there was plenty of loud music in the intro. Of course none of that would matter if it was all fluff, and Dish didn’t disappoint here either announcing the 4K Joey, a slick looking voice remote, slick “Carbon” UI, whole-house music via the Hopper & Joey, and a new Live TV service called Sling TV.

We get a lot of PR for Kickstarter campaigns, and I can't remember ever posting one here on the site. I am prepared to make an exception for the Inteset PC-IRS5-01 because it could fill the HTPC CIR gap created when Intel left the retail motherboard market.

There are several backing levels starting at $39 which, TBH is a bit pricey for IR, but seeing as it will support wake from S4/S5 it might be just the thing you've been looking for. Either way, I'm in and crossing my fingers that once funded the price will come down for future buyers.

Ultra-D looks very fascinating. Ultra-D is a way for converting existing 2D or 3D content to a glasses-free 3D, 4K format. This is exciting because, as they state, it can be incorporated into existing TVs, tablets, and pretty much any screen. I imagine there is some limitation, but the press release doesn't mention any. If anything, this helps to push 3D innovation to make it easier to use, and more ubiquitous.

For the podcast fans, you already know we are all huge fans of HDBaseT. It makes the most sense to find new, better ways to use existing infrastructure rather than require a whole new wiring scheme, which is what HDBaseT at its core accomplishes. While to this point applications have primarily been in businesses, the standard has slowly worked its way into homes as well.

That pace may speed up dramatically now that HDBaseT will become a IEEE standard. As the press release states, the IEEE certification, "...help enhance HDBaseT’s impact and influence in today’s connected world." This is great news for consumers as it should help get more products in the market, increasing selection and maybe even lower the prices.

This is one of the most exciting pieces of news for me from CES 2015. PR after the break.